This is my favorite late winter picture.

[texanwitch]

It was taken in the railyard.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear texanwitch...

And it is a beauty...

Is that the sunset, or sunrise?

Whichever, it is gorgeous!

:hug:

[texanwitch]

3. Sunset.

I just hope this area is there next year.

It is a gully in the railyard that TxDot wants to turn into cement lined ditch.

We are fighting it.

The birds nest there in the spring, the male birds are already there.

[texanwitch]

2. Fireworks from the 4th.

[texanwitch]

4. The firework action was from downtown.

I got better shots.

I was standing on a bridge a good distance away.

[texanwitch]

5. I like this shot the best.

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[texanwitch]

6. Old and new Houston.

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Notice the old telegraph pole, very old.

[kentauros]

7. That's an old trestle bridge!

Still in use, too, I bet ;)

By the way, I'm doing one of those puzzles again, this time with a large map of Houston, circa 1955 :D

[texanwitch]

8. The bridge is not in use anymore, it was used by the MKT railroad.

It is really old.

I have a picture somewhere's from about 1900 to 1910, showing this bridge.

There was train station nearby.

It needs repair, it has been burned.

The puzzle sounds like fun.

[kentauros]

9. Okay, didn't know it had burned.

Parks should fix it up for use in hike & bike trails.

As for the puzzle, let's see... I'm 10 hours into it, 1496 pieces, 920 completed. I won't be finishing it tonight ;)

[texanwitch]

10. We have been trying to get the railyard hooked up to the hike and bike trail.

It would be a link from the Heights to Memorial Park.

The city already owns the right of way but the railroad keeps fighting us.

Now TxDot wants to wipe out the gully with a concrete detention ditch to bring in more flood water.

They want to bring in water from Washington Ave., this a flood plain.

We don't need anymore water coming in.

This is a great place to walk, ride a bike or just bird watch.

It is a gread open space.

[kentauros]

11. I understand the need for retention ponds

but it seems like TXDOT is notorious for not doing environmental impact studies, or just not caring. Probably both.

And railroad companies are just as notorious for protecting their "property" no matter what. Even getting a pipeline crossing where the pipe will be at least ten feet below the lowest level of the r.o.w. and they're still the worst landowners to deal with.

[texanwitch]

12. The railroad is using the city right of way like they own it.

They brought in fill and raised the area killing off lots dewberry vines and other things.

Damn the railroad, this was a great place to pick dewberries.

I will download a few pictures of the area tomorrow.

[texanwitch]

13. This is the area that txdot wants to turn into a cement gully.

The area is a home for lots of birds.

The road belongs to the city.

[kentauros]

14. That's a nice area.

Keep fighting TXDOT. Maybe when we have Gov. White, their attitude will change...

[texanwitch]

17. We are lucky now because the money isn't there but TxDot will be back.

This place is very popular.

[texanwitch]

15. In a month the trees will be green again with lots of birds.

IMG]

There is nice nature made gully already there.

[texanwitch]

16. The railroad raised the area about 3 feet.

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